A former prosecutor has emerged as a Republican challenger to a first-term Democratic assemblywoman in what could be one of the most competitive races of the 2018 Inland election cycle.

Bill Essayli, a Corona resident, plans to announce his bid for California’s 60th Assembly District at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 24, at the 76 gas station on Green River Road in Corona. The announcement will be streamed on Essayli’s campaign Facebook page.

The gas station venue underscores a commitment by Essayli to use Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes’ 2017 vote to raise California’s gas tax against her in a district that covers part of Riverside along with Corona, Norco, Eastvale and Jurupa Valley.

Essayli left his job as an assistant U.S. attorney this week to run for Assembly. He previously worked for the Riverside County District Attorney’s office.

“As the son of Lebanese-American immigrants, Bill has been able to realize the American Dream,” read a press advisory on Essayli’s announcement. His campaign “will focus on his public service as a prosecutor and highlight the votes by the incumbent … to raise gas/car taxes and make California a sanctuary state (for undocumented immigrants),” the advisory read.

Corona City Councilman Randy Fox pulled papers to run as a Republican against Cervantes. But Fox said Thursday, Feb. 22, he was not running for Assembly.

In an emailed statement, Cervantes said: “In the Assembly, I have focused on serving as the effective and responsive advocate that my constituents deserve.”

“I am incredibly proud of our accomplishments over my first year in the legislature, which includes authoring legislation to help small businesses, securing $427 million in new transportation funding to improve safety while reducing traffic, restoring (vehicle license fee) funds to Eastvale and Jurupa Valley, and helping negotiate a state budget that prioritizes our schools and public safety,” she said. “I am looking forward to the campaign ahead.”

A former aide to Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, Sabrina Cervantes unseated Assemblyman Eric Linder, R-Corona, in 2016. She’s defending her seat for the first time as Democrats hold a 5-percentage-point edge in the district’s voter registration.

The GOP is targeting Cervantes because of her crucial vote last year for SB 1, a $52 billion transportation funding package that relies on a 12-cent gas tax hike, as well as higher diesel taxes and new fees on vehicles, to fix crumbling roads and pay for other transportation projects.

In exchange for her vote, Cervantes and state Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, managed to get $427 million, over and above what’s in SB 1, for transportation infrastructure in northwest Riverside County, an unprecedented amount for the region.

But Cervantes’ support for a higher gas tax gave Republicans a ready-made, election-year line of attack. Signatures are being gathered for a ballot measure to repeal the tax hike, and many of Cervantes’ constituents have long commutes.

Jeff Horseman got into journalism because he liked to write and stunk at math. He grew up in Vermont and he honed his interviewing skills as a supermarket cashier by asking Bernie Sanders “Paper or plastic?” After graduating from Syracuse University in 1999, Jeff began his journalistic odyssey at The Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York, where he impressed then-U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Clinton so much she called him “John” at the end of an interview. From there, he went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he covered city, county and state government at The Capital newspaper before love and the quest for snowless winters took him in 2007 to Southern California, where he started out covering Temecula for The Press-Enterprise. Today, Jeff writes about Riverside County government and regional politics. Along the way, Jeff has covered wildfires, a tropical storm, 9/11 and the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino. If you have a question or story idea about politics or the inner workings of government, please let Jeff know. He’ll do his best to answer, even if it involves a little math.